'Tis the season...

Wishing you the very happiest of holidays

Wishing the best for your and yours...

Thanks

Happy New Year

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Happy holidays

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Happy holidays

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My wish for you

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Have a ball this Christmas.

Happy holidays

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Happy holidays

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In the store: Infinite Christmas tree

One of my favorite things in the store right now is a spiral tabletop Infinite Christmas Tree by Areaware. Created by Swedish designer and mathematician Johannes Molin, the tree can be swivelled into a multitude of shapes.

Infinite Christmas Tree by Johannes Molin
areaware.com

My favorite...black and white
areaware.com

In the store: Cool things, large and small

We're having so much fun at the new store. Not only do we have some great new pieces of furniture, we have great stocking stuffers for the holiday season for the little kids in your life...and even the big ones.

Great Adrian Pearsall chairs is cool original fabric

Ninja Cubebots
areaware.com

Areaware Balancing Blocks
fortstandard.com

Put a little fun in meal planning

Is meal-planning stressful? Do you sometimes draw a complete blank when trying to plan a menu?

If so, we have an item in the store that's just right for you...and maybe for others you know. Take a look at Foodie Dice, one of the best stocking stuffers I've seen in a long time. Foodie Dice encourage you to toss the birch cubes and play with your food.

These dice can come up with 186,000 dinner combinations. Simply place the five primary dice in the recycled wine bottle tumbler, add a seasonal veggie die and roll. Here's what you might be having for dinner if you rolled the dice: 

sauté / pork OR eggs / potato / carrots / dill / bacon

grill / beef OR tempeh / rice / corn / cilantro / onions

Stress over!

More unabashed Christmas excess

Having turned over almost all of my little house to the grandsons for Christmas decorating, I staked my claim on the credenza and decided to go for broke. It was so hard to choose what to use and what to leave out in such a limited space...so I didn't. I just threw everything I like into the mix...pottery, glass trees, Festivo candlesticks, glittery starburst ornaments, disco balls, Eames bird. No limits, I tell you. While it may not win any holiday decorating contest, I smile when I look at it, which is pretty often, since it's right in front of my TV.

(If you're wondering about my "candles," I'll admit that they were my one concession to the boys, who are a very active and curious pair. Because a tabletop tree got knocked off that very spot last year, I didn't want to take a chance with open flames, so I opted for a pair of LED candles. They're covered with wax, which makes them a little more like the real thing, and they flicker not-very-believably, which delights the boys. Most importantly, though, they're safe!)

Meanwhile, it's all rainbow, all the time everywhere else, but the grandsons are completely happy, so I am too.

Hint #1: Cylinda-Line by Arne Jacobsen

I'm going to make it easy for my family this year by leaving brazen hints on the blog about what I want for Christmas. The first item to make the wish list is the Cylinda-Line Tea Pot.  It was designed in 1967 by Arne Jacobsen, along with a matching coffee pot, and produced by Stelton.

Arne Jacobsen Cylinda-Line Tea Pot
amazon.com

Arne Jacobsen Cylinda-line Coffee Pot
amazon.com

However, when it comes to coffee, I'm French press all the way. Fortunately, a French press was designed for this line in 2005, based on the original Cylinda-Line water jug. While I don't think the press coffee pot is as graceful as the original coffee pot, it would be more functional for me.

Arne Jacobsen Cylinda-Line Press Coffee Pot
amazon.com

The line also includes a creamer and sugar bowl and a large salad bowl and servers. As gorgeous as these pieces are, I may have a little AJ on my wish list for the next few Christmases.

Christmas excess

"Less is more" may be an appropriate modernist maxim for most of the year, but during the holidays, not so much...not around our house anyway.

Yesterday my SIL and the boys decorated the front of the house, creating a riot of lights and Christmas trees. They decided to get a real tree this year, so their artificial one, with tons of decorations and lights so bright they can probably be seen from space, went up outdoors. And who wants just one tree when you can have two? A 5' tinsel tree with shimmery multicolored dots (and tilting only slightly to the right) found its way to the front porch, while every inch of shrubbery...as well as the ceiling of the porch...was draped in Grandson #2's favorite "rainbow lights." They even added a jiggly carrot-nosed yard sign that says, "Let It Snow," since we're still having daytime weather in the 60s.

Let the Happy Glitterdays of December begin!

Passing muster

After my daughter grew up, I admittedly became a lazy holiday decorator. Even after the grandsons were born, I rationalized that they were too young to care, but that excuse flew right out the window this year. Starting the day after Halloween, they wanted a Christmas tree up at my house. They made it quite clear that they were in charge, because my poor performance last year had clearly disqualified me to be the decision maker.

Right off the bat, Grandson #1 let me know that a tabletop tree was out of the question. I had to have a big tree. Those of you who followed the building of Grammo's Little House know that my space is limited. (If you're a new follower, you might want to click on the Home Tour tab above in order to get an idea of the layout of my living quarters.) We searched online and found a solution...a 6'5" artificial fir of the tall, slender variety known as a pencil tree, specifically designed for small spaces. To a 5-year-old, it seemed adequately big, and since I'm only 5'3" tall, it seemed big enough to me too.

I need to point out that Grandson #2 had concurred about the size of the tree, and he also warned me that white lights weren't allowed. They had to be rainbow, so I made sure to buy a tree with multi-colored lights. I thought we were in business.

One night when they were asleep, I put the tree up and covered it with ornaments, expecting them to be delighted the next day. Instead, Grandson #1 examined it closely and reported back. "Nope, Grammo. Not pretty yet. It needs more decorations." So more ornaments were ordered, and when they arrived and were put on the tree, I awaited the verdict.

This time Grandson #2 gave the tree the once-over and asked somewhat disgustedly, "Where's the star?" I pointed to the vintage style reflector finial at the top of the tree and sheepishly said, "That's kinda a star." With typical 4-year-old candor, he responded flatly, "No, it's not."

Unwilling to receive more scathing criticism, I decided to go all out on the star and buy the most sparkly, most garishly rainbowy star I could find.  I also added a few more glittery ornaments, just to be on the safe side. After another inspection, they apparently decided that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. They dug through a box of ornaments at their house and came over with several more for my tree, insisting that they hang them themselves.

Now we're in business.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's paperwhites time!

Another favorite Christmas tradition of mine is having the delightful smell of paperwhites in the air during the holidays. My grandmothers and my mother always grew them when I was a child, and I've grown them myself most holidays during my adulthood.

If you've never had a paperwhites Christmas (or if you just need a refresher tutorial on how to force them), here's a great article that will get you started.

I just finished planting mine...in a Russel Wright bowl. Now there's nothing to do but make sure they have water and wait for the heavenly scent of their blooms.

homesteadgardens.com

Leon and Elno

Grandson #1 just turned 5, and he's starting to read, so I figured it was time to let him in on an old family tradition. I looked on Ebay for s set of Christmas candleholders like some my mother had when my brother and I were kids in the 1950s, and I found just what I wanted.

My mother loved Christmas, and she liked her decorations to be set out perfectly. This particular set of angels correctly spelled out N-O-E-L, at least when she unpacked them from their cardboard box with excelsior padding. But every time my brother and I walked through the living room, we'd rearrange them so they spelled L-E-O-N or E-L-N-O, giggling at how clever we were. As soon as our mother put them back in order, we'd rearrange them again, and this went on for the entire holiday season, year after year.

So now we have our own set, and Grandson #1 is looking forward to rearranging them. Naturally, Grammo will happily play along, just like my mother did.

How many days till Christmas?

My grandsons are finally old enough to get excited about holidays, and they're ready to get the decorations up now!

Last year I had a tabletop tree, but they let me know that it simply wouldn't do this year. They also put in their order for "rainbow" lights, and while I've been partial to white lights for the past couple of decades, I loved multi-color lights when I was their age, I found this prelit 6.5' pencil tree that will fit perfectly in the corner of my living room where I usually have a bullet planter.

wayfair.com

I've bought quite a few new glass ornaments this year too that we'll all enjoy. Here are some of my favorites.

Multicolor glass icicles
amazon.com

Opalized glass stars
orientaltrading.com

Glass snowflakes
orientaltrading.com

Glass Christmas trees
orientaltrading.com

Faceted glass ornaments
cb2.com

A few more vintage style ornaments will be arriving soon, and then we'll be getting our sparkle on!